


Alpha Rules

by gwenwifar



Series: ABO Destiel [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: ABO AU, Angst, Eventual Smut, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, M/M, cloak and dagger life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:33:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23339203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwenwifar/pseuds/gwenwifar
Summary: Cas and Dean meet again. Dean gets to see what Cas has been up to all this time.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: ABO Destiel [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1623946
Comments: 16
Kudos: 68





	1. Eden

**Author's Note:**

> I know I said next week, but it turned out I had some time tonight I wasn't expecting to have. Enjoy!

Dean had taken to coming to this spot every day since he went for a walk and found it. It was a bit secluded, which was nice, but not so secluded that if he were to break a leg or something he wouldn’t be found. The pups liked to play near this spot. Far enough away that Dean didn’t have to worry about flying objects or excessive noise, but close enough the sound of their laughter traveled to him every now and then.

There were many places in Eden he quite liked. Jimmy’s room, where he had lived for a couple of weeks was one. In that time he’d found a few treasures left behind deep in the bottom of a drawer or pushed to the back of the closet. A blurry photograph. A hand drawn picture. A broken toy car that Dean felt compelled to fix. 

He liked the garage he was working at now. Small place, nothing fancy, just basic repairs until he came in. He had more or less changed the game because he got bored one afternoon when there was no work, went looking through the junk yard, and found a decent vehicle to restore. She wasn’t a classic, like his Baby had been, but it kept him busy. When he’d finished with her, the garage had put her up for sale, and now it had a sort of secondhand car lot attached, which a few cars Dean had fixed up for sale.

He liked the little apartment he had over someone’s garage. It was quiet, and safe, but it left him too much time to count the days and wonder if he was waiting in vain. It had been furnished when he moved in, but he’d bought some personal items to make it feel more like home. Never more than he could pack in a matter of minutes and easily carry, or course. Enough to leave his mark on the place, as it were. 

But this little spot in the park was his favorite place of all.

It smelled like alpha here.

There was a grove hiding most of the village and an area that had probably been meant for a garden but had turned into a beautiful meadow nobody wanted to disturb. There was a bird bath in the meadow, and on that first day he had stopped to look at the birds in it and imagine what they were saying to each other. 

He’d sat down on a fair size boulder, and it had been warm from the sun. He hadn’t realized how badly he needed the comfort. He ended up sitting on the grass, his back against the warm rock. When he came back the next day he brought a blanket to lay on, and lay down on the grass, with the warm rock at his back. He ended up dozing off and when in that moment between full sleep and alertness, he thought he was back home, with Castiel’s warm body behind him, and the scent of crushed wildflowers and morning dew all around him. He’d been coming here every day since. When he could, he lay down for a nap.

He had been here a total of 5 months now, and he was no further along in deciding what he wanted to do with his future. He was still waiting. He supposed fixing up cars would work. Mechanics are needed everywhere. That was as far as he was willing to go with that particular train of thought.

He spent rather more time thinking about Cas and all he’d learned about him since he arrived here. He didn’t pry. There was no need. He was Jimmy, and too many people were all too happy to tell him about his namesake. The kind of pup he’d been. Who he’d dated. How he did in school. Random stories of moments of kindness or rebellion that amused everyone. Nothing that seemed to indicate a murderous spirit. 

He’d eventually let curiosity overtake caution. He’d gone to Jane’s house for dinner, as he tried to do once in a while. They’d chatted about this and that, and somewhere around clearing the table he’d brought it up.

“Everyone keeps telling me stories about your Jimmy. He’s quite a guy.”

She’d smiled an acknowledgment but said nothing.

“Can I ask you something? I’m not trying to pry, I understand if you’d rather not say. But I gotta ask.”

She’d not encouraged the question, but neither had she stopped him, so he continued.

“He said he got banished. For killing a man.”

Dean tried to look casual, kept his eyes on the tablecloth he was folding.

“He doesn’t seem the type. I’m just wondering what happened.”

She hesitated for a moment and then sat down.

“I don’t suppose there’s any harm in telling you, since he brought it up, and it’s not exactly a secret when everyone knows. They don’t talk about it, bless them. I think it still feels wrong. Jimmy was kind of a favorite around here.”

She stopped to gather her thoughts. 

“It happened a few years ago. Jimmy was just becoming a man, and I was on the verge of turning into this old woman you see now. I was still fertile then, I’m not as old as I look. Worry really does age you something fierce, I found out,” she squeezed his hand momentarily with a knowing look, as if warning him to stop worrying so much. 

“Anyway, it was one of my last heats. I think I had 1 more after it happened. It had been so long since I'd had a heat I thought they were done, so I wasn’t ready. I wasn't taking the blockers every day anymore - you don't have to once you stop being fertile and your hormones change. I didn't even have any that I could take. That was careless of me. I was getting things ready to go to the clinic to ride it out when someone knocked on the door. I thought it was Jimmy, that he’d noticed some odd smell and decided to knock to let me know he was about to come in, so I didn’t worry. I didn’t worry when I heard the door open either, or the footsteps approaching. Turned out it was a newcomer. An alpha. He’d smelled the heat scent and… well…”

He nodded his understanding, wanting to spare her the words. 

“Anyway,” she went on, relieved she didn’t have to voice it, “Jimmy came in a few minutes later. He heard some sort of struggle going on, so he came right for us. I’d tried to escape into my room, so that’s where he’d trapped me. When Jimmy saw what the man was doing he just… couldn’t help it. He got so angry. He really tried to follow the rules. He tried to get the alpha off me, but he wasn’t strong enough at that point. The alpha shrugged him off like he was a pesky bug. But Jimmy kept at it until the alpha had to let me go to deal with him. I scrambled out of the room as fast as I could to get help. When I came back, it was too late. The man was dead, and Jimmy was just sitting there, covered in his blood.”

“They banished him for defending his mother?”

Dean couldn’t help himself, he was furious.

“No, _not exactly_.”

She picked her words carefully now. 

“We have rules against violence, but as you say, the man had attacked me, and Jimmy was defending his family. That was understood, and that was not the crime he was banished for.”

“What then?”

“It was the way he did it,” she took a deep breath and just blurted it out. ”He shifted and ripped out the man’s throat with his teeth. They could forgive him for killing, but not for losing control of his alpha instinct.”

oOo

Dean had been lying on his blanket, with his back against the warm stone, when he knew everything was going to be ok. He’d dozed off, and something woke him up. His arm hurt. And as he lifted it to have a look he felt it again. The thing that had woken him up. Something bit him. Something brightly colored that was slithering away into the wildflowers now.

His first instinct was to panic. Something about snakes was terrifying at some primal level, no matter who you were. He screamed. Heard scrambling nearby as the children ran to investigate. Then he realized something and he smiled.

He was hurt. He was maybe even in real danger, if that thing was poisonous.

Cas always came when he was in danger.


	2. reckless

Cas was even earlier than usual. He made his way through the quiet hallways to his office, his mind full of plans. He would check his emails. He would review his notes from his previous classes and the roster for the classes he had today. He would look over his new case files to make sure he was familiar enough with them that he could be a good teacher to his charges. He would absolutely not waste any of his time today wondering if Dean was still in Eden.

He was halfway through his emails when he was startled out of his skin by the sound of the door opening. Nobody else was ever here this early. He collected himself before he looked up to find Benny walking up to his desk.

“Sorry, I didn’t expect you to be in here yet. I was going to leave a note on your desk.”

“What’s up?” Cas responded.

“I received a message from our guy in Eden. There’s a problem with your omega.”

“Which one?” Castiel was already searching through his mental file cabinet, trying to figure out who he’d sent to Eden recently that might have run into trouble.

“I’m not talking about your caseload, Castiel,” and that snapped his full attention back to Benny. “I mean _your omega_. Dean.”

“What’s happened?”

His fingers began to close files and put away papers even as he listened.

“He’s… not doing well. Snake bite, about 10 hours ago. They’re not sure what kind of snake and he’s not responding to the limited treatments they have available there.”

Having both returned his desk to its pristine condition and heard enough, Castiel pulled out his schedule and left it on the desk. 

“Make sure someone covers my morning class. I’ll be back by lunch.” 

And he walked out without another word.

oOo

In the last few months, Castiel had abandoned all thought about what he was and wasn’t supposed to do. In fact, he did at least half a dozen things he wasn’t supposed to do on the daily now. He found it quite fulfilling and literally liberating. So as he drove up to the walls of Eden less than two hours later, he did not concern himself in the slightest that he was about to do something he was not supposed to do.

He pulled up to the gate and rolled the window down. The old man who came out to talk to him looked only vaguely familiar, but he recognized Castiel, because he approached the window with the expression of a man who was about to tell him, as kindly as he possibly could, to fuck off.

“You know you’re not allowed - ”

But Castiel had no time to waste right now, and he wasn’t going to sit here and hash this out with the old man.

“I’m going through that gate whether you open it or not.”

The man eyed the new SUV and the old gate, and opened his mouth, possibly to try to reason with Cas. Cas had said what he needed to say, though, and he was now backing up to the end of the drive. Revving his engine a few times for effect, he shifted into Drive and shot forward. He saw the alarm in the man’s face and saw him diving for the button that opened the gate. Allowing the car to slow down enough not to damage the gate, now that it was opening, he focused on getting to the clinic as quickly and safely as possible. What was the fastest route? Was the clinic still where it used to be?

He found the clinic where it always was, parked directly in front of the door and left the car running. When he walked in, he didn’t bother talking to anyone. He imagined Dean was in the room that passed for both an ER and an ICU. He knew exactly where that was. At least, he used to. Striding through the clinic purposefully, he found that he was being watched by a number of people. Mostly in shock. 

Later, he’d think of all kinds of snarky remarks. They had known a scrawny kid. He’d grown up, bulked up. He had stopped the constant hormone blockers, so he had grown rather more imposing too. He was wearing fancy leather shoes and a suit. And he was walking through them as if they didn’t matter in the least. If he had time for snark right now, he would enjoy flaunting all that. But he had bigger fish to fry. He burst through the doors of the ICU room and headed for the only bed that was behind a privacy curtain. He shoved it aside, and sure enough, there was Dean. Pale. Sweaty. He didn’t look good at all. 

Careful to avoid the bandaged arm, Castiel removed the blanket, and the monitors Dean was attached to. He grabbed the IV drip from the hook and set it on Dean’s chest. A nurse started fussing around him, trying to undo what he’d just done.

“I’m taking him with me,” he announced.

She began to tell him all the reasons Dean should not be moved. He was hurt. He needed to rest. His vitals needed to be checked on every 30 minutes. Castiel sighed, raised his eyes to the ceiling.

“You don’t have what he needs here. The risk of leaving is no greater than the risk of staying.”

And as he spoke, he worked his left arm carefully under Dean’s body, then slid the right under his legs. Realizing he’d not thought to open the passenger door, and that there were two other doors to get through, he told the nurse to get the doors for him and started to walked out. Not knowing what else to do, and responding to the command in his voice, the nurse opened the doors as they went. 

Carefully, he placed Dean in the passenger seat, buckled him in, and settled the IV bag on his lap, making sure the line was clear.

“What is he on? Was he sedated?”

Unable to keep the snark out of her voice, the nurse informed him that he’d been sedated to stop him from moving. Castiel closed the passenger door carefully, walked around to the driver’s side and got in the car. 

He was headed out of town when he saw a familiar shape waiting by the gate. It seemed he was going to do a few more things he wasn’t supposed to while he was in town. He stopped the car, got out, and ran to his mother. He took a moment to look at her, decide she was well, if more frail than he had expected. Then he gave her a crushing hug, let her feel that he was hale and strong and still the boy who loved her. When he let her go, he dropped a soft kiss on her forehead, glanced around to make sure they couldn’t be overheard.

“Castiel Novak,” he said quietly. “That’s my name now. If you ever decide to look for me in the big world out there, I want you to know I want to be found.”

“Castiel,” she repeated quietly. “I’ll remember.”

And then he was getting back into the car and driving out of Eden without looking back.

oOo

Dean thought this was a freaking great time for an earthquake. It was an earthquake, right? Somehow, he couldn’t quite open his eyes. But he could feel the shaking. And he could definitely hear a low rumble in the background. He felt his body get tossed around a little, and what seemed like a hand adjusting something on his lap. Was he sitting up? He wasn’t supposed to be sitting up.

He gathered his energy, focused on opening his eyes. It seemed like it took ages for his eyelids to open enough to see anything at all. At first only movement. That resolved itself into shaking, then moving. He could see trees moving past his window. Why was there a window? He didn’t remember a window when he was last awake. Slowly he tried to move his neck to get a better view. He was not in bed. He was in a car. He turned his head another inch and could see a leg in his peripheral vision. Another inch. An arm. A familiar one. He forced himself to turn just a little more. He had to see the face. And then there it was. 

“Cas,” he croaked out, weakly. 

_You came_ , he thought. But the words didn’t materialize. The exhaustion dragged him under again.

The next time he opened his eyes, he was in a bright hospital room. He was hooked up to all kinds of monitors and there was an IV drip (again). As far as he could tell, everything looked reassuringly stable. He found that was able to move, but it was exhausting to do so. And that he was alone in the room.

He found a restroom in the corner and realized he would rather like to use it but wasn’t sure how to get a nurse here to help him up. He cleared his throat, tested his voice a bit, but before he could call out, a head popped through the door.

“Dean, you’re awake!”


	3. The new gig

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean learns about Castiel's new job

Cas walked in and approached the bed. Gently, he touched the back of his hand to Dean’s forehead, then glanced at the monitors. 

“How do you feel?”

Dean smiled for a moment. Better than he’d felt in a long time. But he’d decided, back in Eden, sitting with his back to the warm rock, that if he had another shot at this, he wouldn’t push it. So he let the alpha’s familiar scent relax him, and coached himself to take it nice and easy. Let Cas set the tone, here.

“Better.”

Then remembering he meant to use the bathroom he asked Cas to get him a nurse.

“Don’t be silly, I’ll help you,” Cas countered. And more efficiently than Dean had expected, he did just that. In fact, so efficiently Dean didn’t have time to be embarrassed, and he was half tucked back into bed when he realized Cas was bracing for something.

“Dean, we need to talk.”

This was never a good way to start a conversation. Dean made himself take a deep breath. Was this the part where Cas finally let him have it for running away like he did? Running a con on him? He deserved it, he knew that. But he wasn’t sure he could take it right now.

“I really don’t have a lot of time right now, I have to go back to work in a minute but…” Cas sat on the edge of his bed and faced him, squaring his shoulders.

“Now that you’re awake there’s something you need to know before you start interacting with other people here.” Castiel paused, as if to make sure he had Dean’s undivided attention.

“My job here is very important. And in order to do it, I need to maintain a certain image. I’ll fill you in on all the details later, but what you need to know now is, nobody here knows that we know each other. For the time being, it would be best if they didn’t find out.”

That was easy enough, Dean thought, particularly as he wasn’t likely to be socializing much in the next few days. But why pretend they didn’t know each other? Why was he here, and saying he’d be back later if he didn’t want them to know they knew each other? Did he hang out with everybody like this? What about this certain image? What image?  
He didn’t realize that he had said that out loud until Castiel answered him.

“It’s a bit more complicated than it sounds, but basically – in public, at least, I must be seen as a competent, assertive alpha in his full glory. The kind of alpha that, if he is mated at all, is mated to a well-trained and obedient omega. The kind of alpha that wouldn’t tolerate disobedience.”

“Like when you showed up at the center to find me.”

“Like that, yes.”

“Cas… where are we?”

“You’re safe here, I promise.”

“Cas?”

“We’re at the Manhattan Omega Training Center.”

And assuring Dean that he’d be back in a few hours to explain everything, Castiel was out the door.

oOo

_Omega Training Center?_ Dean couldn’t get past those few words until a nurse came in and, addressing him politely as Mr. Winchester, began to ask him a number of questions and direct him through a number of exercises. She declared he was doing much better, but still weak, and that he would now be put on a protein rich diet to build his strength. Dean crossed his fingers for bacon, but it turned out to be some kind of meat broth for today. Seems he had been out for quite a few days and would have to work his way up to solid food.

She came back after a while and walked him around the room for a bit of exercise, after which he was fairly exhausted and fell asleep. He woke up to find that it was the middle of the night and he’d missed Castiel. The nurse told him he’d come by but hadn’t wanted to disturb his rest. She had a loopy grin when she said it, and it didn’t take a sensitive omega nose to detect that she was mooning over Cas.

Momentarily, he wondered if maybe this was the real reason Cas didn’t want anyone to know they knew each other. Maybe he had something going with the nurse and didn’t want her to know he was mated. Not that it should even count. Then he remembered where that kind of thinking had led him before. Cas had said he’d explain. He would explain. And Dean would believe him.

He ate some proper soup this time, walked around some more, and went back to sleep, not quite as exhausted as he’d been earlier. 

Cas checked on him in the morning but didn’t stay long. The doctor was there to clear him medically. He was declared recovered from the effects of the bites but needing to rest and restore his strength for a few days. The monitors and IV were removed. This time he got eggs and toast. He was promised meat for dinner if his stomach handled breakfast and lunch well enough. He babied his stomach all morning and felt well enough to stand up and walk around without help by lunch time. 

He’d hoped to see Castiel at lunch, but he didn’t show. Still, Dean ate, Dean rested, and Dean walked. He got a burger for dinner, but he was going to have to earn the bacon, cheese and fries another day. He was determined not to fall asleep this time, though. He wanted answers. 

When Castiel hadn’t arrived by 6, Dean started to wonder if he was going to show up at all. He felt restless, and decided maybe it was time that he took a stroll in the hallway. He stepped out, and looked around. Right in front of him there was a nurse’s station, much like any other he’d ever seen. To his left a long hallway was lined with several more rooms like the one he’d been in, plus an OR and and ICU at the end. All these rooms appeared to be empty at the moment. In fact, there didn’t seem to be anyone around at all. Not even the nurse.

He made his way back to the nurse’s station, and noticed a sort of supply room behind it, well stocked. And to his right, the first thing that seemed entirely out of place. Double doors. But not like hospital double doors. More like the sort of double doors you’d expect to see leading to a board room. He tested the doors and found them unlocked.   
Should he walk out? Was it safe? He hesitated a moment too long and the door opened from the other side.

“Cas!”

“Dean, I didn’t expect to see you there. Everything ok?”

“Yeah, I…” he hesitated. “I got bored, walked out to maybe chat with the nurse for a bit but I couldn’t find anyone.”

“She probably went home, now that you’re officially released from her care and mostly just resting.”

Dean nodded, though none of it made much sense at all.

“She’ll be here during the days, to help in your recovery, or in case you relapse, but otherwise - ”

He stopped himself like a man who realizes he’s rambling.

“Let’s sit down.”

They did, and Castiel turned a delighted smile on Dean.

“You look much better.”

“I feel better. I was even wondering if it was okay to take a walk around the hallways. You know, for exercise.”

“We can,” but his tone implied, in a minute.

“Dean, we didn’t exactly get off on the right foot and I think before we go any further maybe we should clear the air a bit.”

Ah. Time to get chewed out then. Tonight he was more fit to handle it, so Dean braced himself.

“I guess it must have been pretty obvious to you when I walked into your predicament that day that I had a giant crush on you. I – You know, I don’t even really know why I went there? Anyway, you were in trouble, and I got you out of there, and I wondered after if you’d felt… obligated, I suppose. There were meant to be no strings attached, but I wasn’t sure you’d know that, all things considered. I wasn’t exactly on my best behavior,” he glanced at Dean’s neck, clearly thinking of the mating bite he’d left there without permission.

“Anyway, I wanted to apologize. I’ve learned a lot in the months you were in Eden. I think it might all have been so different if we’d met some other way,” his smile was full of a sort of nostalgic regret, but he shook off the mood and continued. “I'm sorry I didn't know how to help you, then. You needed to feel safe, not - ” not knowing how to finish that sentence with dignity, he vaguely gestured his frustration.

How would it have been if they’d met in some other way? If Dean had met Cas instead of Alex all those years ago, maybe? Or if Dean had made his clean get away in the Impala and just bumped into Cas somewhere down the road? He honestly didn’t know if he would have given Cas a second look. He was hot, sure. But naïve, in many ways. They might have hooked up. But most likely he never would have been more than a hookup or a mark.

“Now that you’re medically cleared, you don’t have to stay here if you don’t want to. I – I hesitate to offer because I don’t want you to feel…”

“Obligated?”

“Yeah,” Cas smirked, “that. I have a house here. Much larger than I need it to be, but it’s part of that image I told you about. Plenty of room for guests. I’m not going to lie and say to you that I’m not interested anymore. But we barely knew each other when we went our separate ways, and we have both learned a lot since then. So, I think maybe it would give us an opportunity to get to know each other a bit better. Nothing has to come of it. And you wouldn’t have to stay here until you figure out where you’re going next.”

Dean had not given it a moment’s thought. He’d assumed he’d be sent back to Eden, unless Cas –

“They might not let you go back to Eden after the way you left. I’m afraid I made a bit of a scene. I could try, but…”

Dean shrugged. It was safe there. But it wasn’t home. And sometime between being dropped off in Eden and waking up in the hospital room, Dean had found himself falling, and falling hard, for the Cas he was discovering. He wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to get to know him better for all the bacon cheeseburgers this side of the Mississippi. And this time he wasn’t going to fuck it up with his second guessing and overthinking. 

“I’d appreciate that. I mean, staying with you,” he swallowed and made himself add. “I’d like to get to know you better. I’m – I’m sorry for -”

But before he could find the words to finish that sentence, Cas beamed another smile at him and he forgot how to speak.

Cas got up, and Dean was able to think again.

_“Manhattan Omega Training Center?”_

“Yes. I’m a teacher here.”

“You work at an omega center?” Dean couldn’t help it if he sounded skeptical.

“It’s a rather… _unique_ center.”

“Unique?” Dean repeated. “In what way?”

“Well, we don’t do behavior training, in the traditional sense. We teach skills omegas need. You know, cooking, cleaning, sewing, aerobics.”

“You teach cooking and cleaning?” Dean sounded even more skeptical now.

“Those classes are on the north wing of the building.”

“And what’s in this wing? Why does it need a hospital?”

Cas opened the double doors and gestured for Dean to walk through.

“Uh, sometimes our students need medical attention. This wing teaches _advanced_ cooking and cleaning.”

“ _Advanced cooking_? Like cake decorating?”

Dean took a moment to look through the first door, and it looked exactly like every classroom he’d ever walked by.

“No, not exactly. More like how to use herbs and spices wisely. Say, for example, how some herbs will naturally inhibit alpha hormones, or how a sprig of this of a pinch of that might make someone drowsy or irritate their stomach lining. You know, so omegas know how to avoid _accidentally_ making their alphas sick.”

Dean walked on to another door, peeked in.

“How does an omega join your advanced classes, Cas?”

“Well, usually, if we detect by the omega’s demeanor that their alpha is not… satisfied with the usual cooking class... or maybe they burn themselves cooking a lot at home... we interview the omega to determine if they would be a good fit.”

" _Just_ the omega?"

"Of course. We wouldn't dream of bothering the alpha with such trifles," he snorted.

A smile broke over Dean’s face as he kept asking.

“What kind of cleaning is _advanced cleaning_?”

“O, you know… detailing. Removing difficult stains…”

“Like blood stains?”

“Yes, I do believe we cover those. Among others. And things like removing scents from various surfaces, hiding scuff marks…”

The smile got bigger and more delighted as Castiel tried to look demure and serious.

“Well, well, well, Cas. These sure are some interesting classes. You know, someone might say you’re teaching omegas how to fight back.”

Now in earnest, Cas held his gaze and repeated.

“Which is why it’s so important that I cultivate a certain public image.”

Dean nodded, understanding. But that smile would not be kept at bay, and in a teasing tone, he followed up with:

“What do _you_ teach?”

“Advanced aerobics.”

“And would you say, by any chance, that advanced aerobics might look, to suspicious eyes, a bit like, let’s say - boxing?”

“Of course not!” Castiel sounded outright indignant. Until he mumbled under his breath “more like beginner mixed martial arts.”

And then the empty hallways rang out with Dean’s rusty laugh.


	4. Chapter 4

Dean woke up in his hospital bed, feeling hopeful in a way he hadn’t felt in months. Maybe ever. Tonight or tomorrow he’d go home with Castiel. He’d been ready to go last night, but they’d agreed that it might be better to wait until he was more independent. He still tired too easily. Another day or two of rest, easy exercise, and good food should fix that.

He wasn’t sure what time it was, and he didn’t feel like moving yet to check. He was comfortable, warm, and for a bit he was going to just lay there and daydream. At least, that was the plan, but the nurse breezed in, dropped something on the bed, and started talking.

“Good morning. Cas came by and brought you some clean clothes to wear.”

Dean forgot to be irritated by the interruption. He was cool with her being here and talking, as long as it was Cas they were talking about. Should he encourage her to talk? It probably wouldn’t take much, considering. But it felt underhanded and wrong somehow, to pump her for information. Still, he could hardly be at fault for what she might say if he just let her talk…

He stretched, giving her an awkward smile.

“That was nice of him.” 

That should be neutral enough, right? She nodded and seemed about to say something, but stopped herself, seemed to think better of it, and then sat on the bed, next to Dean.

“If you’re going to be around for a while, there’s a few things you should probably know about Cas.”

Dean sat up straighter. She seemed ready to launch into some grade A gossip. He felt guilty about listening already, but he wanted to know everything there was to know. 

“Cas is… special, I guess. Kinda mysterious and he does weird things sometimes, but you need to know he’s the nicest guy and he’s not at all creepy. He’s just been through a lot.”

“A lot? What - what do you mean?”

_What did they know?_ Had Cas told them about what had happened between them? He found that he was suddenly mortified, but before he had time to examine that, she had continued. 

“I mean, he hasn’t _said_ , but for a guy who is so good at playing a part out there” she tilted her head in the general direction he expected the outside world to be in “in here, when he’s not playing a part, it’s really not so hard sometimes to see right through him.”

She scooted closer, and leaned towards him, in the classic gossip dispensing pose.

“Like, he asks almost every runaway who comes through here why they ran away. And then he gets this thoughtful look on his face, like he’s trying to figure out if the answer is relevant somehow. Sometimes in the middle of a story he’ll stop you and ask follow up questions. Like about why that omega would be scared in that situation. And sometimes, he gets this look like something just clicked into place and he’ll start asking how to fix it. He’s like… like a super strong pup who’s still a bit clumsy and doesn’t quite understand how he keeps breaking stuff, and he just looks so guilty when his tail knocks something over again.”

She stopped for breath, straightened her back and her face took on a more determined expression.

“We _think_ that he wanted to mate an omega. You know, a specific one. And somehow it didn’t work out because the omega got scared and ran away. I mean, Cas is a giant alpha teddy bear. But I guess if you didn’t _know that_ some of his weirdness could be scary? Like how he just comes out of nowhere sometimes and asks if you’re feeling embarrassed or ashamed? Has he done that to you yet?”

Dean shakes his head, not knowing what else to do.

“It sounds really creepy, right? But it’s just that he’s trying to learn to identify smells. He never learned, I guess, growing up. He can pick out the big ones, you know. Fear, arousal, happiness… But the more subtle feelings he struggles with.”

Her eyes got bigger, as if she just connected some dots right there.

“Maybe _that’s_ why it didn’t work out! Maybe he couldn’t _read_ the omega, and the omega _thought_ Cas didn’t care about his feelings!”

She looked vaguely like Jane watching one of her soap operas, or one of those contestants on some game show that is pretty sure they just figured out the puzzle. And he suddenly really resented the dramatic look on her face, and the way she was so happily speculating about what went wrong between Dean and Cas. Like it was the most delightfully tragic thing she’s ever heard. And why was she calling him Cas? Just how close were they?

She was still talking, a weird mixture of soft and frantic, and Dean couldn’t stomach it anymore. He stood up and headed to the bathroom to change, tossing a thank you over his shoulder.

She seemed a bit stunned by his quick withdrawal, and clearly thinking that she must have confused him, made one last effort to drive her point home.

“Just remember Cas is a great guy that would never hurt someone on purpose, okay? Especially not an omega. Even if he’s being a bit weird, there’s no reason to be afraid of him.”

Dean nodded, pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to get any words through his clenched jaw, and disappeared into the bathroom.

oOo

He had some breakfast, the happy, lazy mood he’d woken up in completely shattered. He found that his morning exercise walk had turned into pacing up and down the hallway for an hour, and he decided that this was good. He was irritated, and restless, but clearly his strength was improving if he could pace this long without collapsing. Still, he went back to his room, and sat on a big lazy chair in a discreet corner. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be able to see him through the window. He really didn’t want any more insight from her right now.

He made himself rest, made himself stop thinking about the nurse, and instead focus on going home with Cas. What would it be like, this home? Would they eat together? They couldn’t very well get to know each other better if they didn’t hang out, right?

What would he do when Cas was at work? He’d have to see what there was to do there. But if he was honest, he thought maybe be would prefer to come to work with Cas and find some way to make himself useful _here_. Maybe there was something Dean could do. Now that he was used to having a job, he didn’t want to just sit at home, cleaning and watching movies.

What was he good at? It didn’t seem like they’d need a mechanic here, but he’d done plenty of running. He probably had some useful skills he could pass along. He made himself think critically. He had plenty of skills. But perhaps it would be easier to figure out how he could be useful if he had a better idea of what they might need. He should go check out the classes, discreetly. Just sorta walk down the hall and see what they were doing.

Determined not to waste any more time, he tested his strength, and found he was good for a short walk, if not another hour of pacing. He headed for the doors, determination in his stride.

He walked by a hair and makeup room where someone was teaching omegas how contouring could completely change their appearance. He walked by a room where money was being discussed. He stopped by the kitchen door, and heard a bouncy voice explain how, if your pup wasn’t taking their medicine, it wasn’t so hard to cook it into their food and disguise the flavor. Some red hair caught his attention across the hall, and he sauntered over to overhear the _advanced_ arts and crafts teacher explain how if you really hate the picture on your ID, now that you’re done contouring and got the exact look you want, you can change the picture on there right at home. 

He smirked to himself and strolled on past the fake ID lessons and found what he didn’t know he’d been looking for. Cas was sort of hunched over, a determined look in his wide, unsettling eyes. His mouth was slightly open, his nostrils flaring, and he was moving, slowly, threateningly, circling an omega standing alone in the middle of the room. His full attention was on the omega, and Dean allowed himself to lean into the door frame to watch. 

“Sure, little omega,” Castiel’s voice was more growl than speech “you can do it in your cushy work out room, with all your friends standing next to you. But what if you’re alone?” Cas moved a few inches closer.

“What if you’re alone with a big…” he was almost at the omega’s back now, “scary... pushy alpha,” he moved closer, making a big show of smelling the omega, who was now beginning to move, into what appeared to be a deferential position.

“That’s right, little omega. You _should_ be scared. You smell delicious when you’re scared,” Cas was directly behind the omega now, leaning in as if to whisper something. But before he could say anything, there was a flash of movement, and then a loud thud followed by complete silence.

Dean straightened up, as half a dozen people he hadn’t known were in the room closed in around Castiel and leaned over him. Dean heard him gasp, as you would if you’d just had the air knocked out of you by getting dropped on your ass, hard. A few moments later, there was a cough and then – 

“That was GREAT!” The omegas broke apart to let Cas get up, and he’d never seen anyone more delighted to have their ass handed to them so neatly. Taking their cue from Cas, the other faces in the room were suddenly excited and happy smiles showed up everywhere. Dean was not even a little surprised to find even he had somehow started smiling.

“No, really, that was GREAT. I really thought you were scared when you turned that way… ” he stopped, having just noticed who was standing by the door. His smile went wider, and he nodded, then returned his attention to his student.

“Can I give you a hug?”

The omega nodded prettily, and Cas gave her a celebratory hug, before beaming one more blinding smile into the room, and then instructing everyone to pair up and practice that move with their partner until they could do it just like that.

Dean turned back to his room, hanging on to that smile to float him until he could spend some time with Cas later. Who could ever see him like this and be afraid of Cas? Honestly, how stupid did you have to be? 

He couldn’t help thinking the answer to that was probably _considerably less stupid than you have to be to run away from him_.


	5. Clearing the air

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean has some clearing of the air to do as well.

Dean had been resting on the sofa after his walk, enjoying the memory of that smile, when it dawned on him there was still a lot that needed to be said if they were going to have any chance at all, here. Cas had “cleared the air,” as he’d called it. It seemed to have worked for him. But things were still not clear enough for Dean’s liking and that wasn’t Castiel’s fault. 

He went over what Castiel had said, and how easily he had taken responsibility for what had gone wrong between them before. Cas wasn’t wrong exactly, in his assessment of the situation. But he was also not entirely fair. Dean had been scared, in a way, and if he had felt safe things might have been very different, sure. But it wasn’t Cas he was scared of. And if he was honest, he wasn’t sure that there was anything Cas could have done to make him feel safe. Cas should know that.

When Castiel came looking for Dean after work, he found him in a contemplative, and somewhat somber, mood. Unsure what to make of it, Cas kept his tone light and his smile beaming.

The nurse seemed to have gone home without bringing dinner, and Dean had decided to wait for Cas before venturing out to look for a cafeteria or vending machine of some kind. As it turned out, Cas brought dinner with him, and they went in search of a comfortable spot to eat in, instead. They ended up going back to the same room where Cas had been teaching earlier and sitting on the mats.

Cas smelled so relaxed and confident that Dean couldn’t help responding to that. He found himself laughing easily, even flirting, and enjoying every minute of their meal. He shuffled closer, after, wanting to be closer to the scent, feel the warmth of Castiel’s body for a moment. Cas welcomed the move but didn’t reciprocate it. Why not? Was it because this was where he worked? Because he was worried that it would cross some line? That Dean would get scared? Because he wasn’t ready to get that close yet? 

Dean made himself remember the easy, delighted smile and just as it had before, it stopped the runaway thoughts in his mind. _Breathe. Clear the air. Follow alpha’s lead._ Then he took a deep breath, letting the scent do the rest of the work. Confident, happy Cas was everything he’d ever needed, it seemed. He might have figured that out sooner if he’d done what he had agreed to do and helped Cas find his feet.

“Ready to go?”

Dean realized Cas meant to go home, with him. He felt his head shake, slowly, sadly, before he realized he couldn’t. Not until he said what he needed to say. Castiel’s smile faltered for a moment, then righted itself, waiting.

“You wanted to clear the air yesterday, and I think that I need to do the same. And then maybe we need to sleep on it, before I move in. I don’t want to end up making the same mistakes twice.”

Cas shifted, his expression turned serious, and he waited for Dean to continue.

“I don’t think now’s the time to tell you the long, pathetic story of how I came to be where I was when you found me. Maybe some other time, if you want to know, but - ” he hesitated, but made himself continue. “The bottom line is, it wasn’t great. And it left me no reason to think that anyone would have my back, ever.”

He made himself look at Castiel, even if he couldn’t always maintain eye contact. 

“It has always been me against the world, Cas. I – the truth is, when you came in that day, I saw an opportunity to get out. I had been about to run off in the Impala when they arrived and was already planning how I would escape them if one of them succeeded in taking me home. I knew running away from you would be easier. I did everything I could to get you to help me. And after that -”

He sighed heavily, shook his head.

“It’s like my brain was stuck on running away. And I couldn’t think about anything else or notice anything else until I managed to run away. While I was living with you, I did things… I’m not proud of. And we can talk about that if you want. But there is one thing you need to understand first.”

He made himself hold Castiel’s hand, and maintain eye contact this time. 

“You said – You said you had things you needed to learn, and you wanted my help. I said I’d help, but then I didn’t. That was because in my head you were saying that so that you could pretend not to know what you were doing when you tried to hurt me at some later time. It’s not you. My brain just does that. With everyone. All the time. The truth is, there’s nothing you could have said or done that would have made a difference then.”

Dean pulled his hands away, studied them as if he’d never seen such things before.

“I told you once that you just needed to trust your instinct to guide you. I trusted mine. I was so sure Eden wasn’t real. It wasn’t until I saw it that I understood that as much as you need to trust your instinct, I need to question mine. My instinct doesn’t know how to process someone like you. Someone who doesn’t think of themselves first, always. You – you told me it was your fault. It really wasn't. That you hadn’t made me feel safe. That’s true enough as far as it goes. But I don’t deserve that get out of jail free card. And I don’t want it.”

“Dean - ”

“In a way, I’ve been scared for so long I don’t even know it anymore. And yeah, that made it hard to see you as you are. But I was not afraid of you. I had no reason to second guess everything you said or decide that you had ulterior motives. That is on me. And so is what I did before I ran away.”

“Dean - ”

“If I’m ever going to feel safe I need to deal in reality, not in a twisted version of it I made up in my head. So, it’s important that I understand where I failed. And if we’re going to be together, even temporarily, it’s important that you understand that I’m… ”

He didn’t have to force it, this time. He wanted Cas to see he meant it. To see it in his eyes.

“I’m going to fail again, Cas. It’s bound to happen sometimes, and it’s not going to be fair to you. I can promise I’ll fix it, I’ll make it up to you, but I can’t promise I won’t fuck up again, Cas. I’m trying, as hard as I can. I could use your help. I don’t deserve it, not after I didn’t help you. But, I… I trust you, even if I need to remind myself sometimes. Your scent is the closest I’ve ever been to being able to just relax.”

“Dean!” Cas finally broke through.

“How about we help each other? I’ve learned a lot, in the last 6 months, but there’s still a lot to learn. I know I'm going to mess up too. So, can we just agree that for reasons that neither of us is to blame for we don't really know how to do this, but we really want to figure it out? Can we agree to give each other and ourselves a break when we need it, and to help each other? I think we’d make a great team, don’t you?”

He reached for Dean’s hand now, pulled him closer, and Dean went, gladly. He didn’t stop until he was in Castiel’s arms, nuzzling his neck, breathing him in.

“Yeah. I think we will.”


	6. Moving in

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been at least twice as long as I normally take between chapters, but I've been busily sewing cloth masks for my friends. Enjoy, and apologies for the late posting.

They slept on it. Then they mostly nodded at each other in passing all day. Dean found himself wandering in the direction of Castiel’s classroom a number of times, and getting a bit miffed by all the adoring looks he saw getting tossed at the man who was _technically_ still his mate, _thank you very much_. That’s how he ended up drifting over to fake ID room. The redhead in there was just bubbly enough to distract him without getting annoying, and he could still get the occasional glimpse of Cas through the open doors.

The redhead’s name was Charlie, and she was a ray of fucking sunshine. Dean found himself going in, offering suggestions, and learning a few new tricks. She blasted him with a blinding smile, and Dean felt useful in a way he hadn’t felt since Sammy. So much so, in fact, that he forgot all about Cas for a few hours, and then everyone was getting ready to go home, and Dean was watching every other omega making eyes at Cas again. _Is it possible for an omega to be territorial?_ He made himself stay put, no matter how the voice in his head urged him to walk across the hallway and rub his scent all over Cas.

“Is everyone in here in love with him?”

He didn’t realize he had actually voiced the thought until Charlie answered him.

“More like crushing hard, I think. Can you blame them? He’s like one giant adorable puppy.”

Dean took some time to examine his shoes to avoid mooning like an idiot, and then Cas was there, saying something to Charlie, then guiding him out and into his car. He had expected it to be tense, this moment when things were about to change between them. But it ended up being almost boring in its domesticity. They talked about what to have for dinner and ended up going through a drive through.

Still, Cas insisted on setting a table, and serving their cheeseburgers on real plates.

“You were right, I think. About sleeping on it.”

Cas took a big bite, taking the time to choose his words.

“I gave it some thought and it occurs to me that it’s simpler than we have been fearing. Neither one of us really knows how this is supposed to work, and we’ve been worried about it, trying to figure it out, and feeling like abject failures because we don’t really understand what’s expected of us. And I venture to add that the parts we do understand are often in conflict with what we want out of life.”

That seemed like a fair assessment, so Dean nodded, as he took another bite.

“Before I went to sleep it dawned on me that we are both atypical people. And therefore, it stands to reason a typical arrangement wouldn’t really suit us. It occurs to me, Dean, that it doesn’t matter what’s expected of us in general. Only what we expect of each other.”

Dean stopped chewing the cheeseburger to chew over that thought for a second. 

“We don’t have to try to figure out their rules,” Cas said, over a smile. “We can make our own. Start easy, figure out what works for us, and make new rules as we go along.”

Cas took another bite, and they ate quietly for a few seconds.

“New rules like what?”

Dean couldn’t help it. Mostly, he was relieved to think maybe they could have a life where he wasn’t constantly limited by his secondary gender. But there was a panicky voice in the back of his head yelling that if the rules don’t apply any more, then things are harder to predict. Harder to organize. Harder to make sense of.

“Ok, for example: because I have to cultivate my public image, once we’re linked, it’s important that in public you behave like a typical obedient omega, and I like a typical dominant alpha. So, that would be a rule. If we’re out at a store or the movies or wherever, you do as I say without asking questions. At home or in our wing of the center, though, the rule doesn’t normally apply. And we can talk about it at home so that I don’t ever tell you to do something you don’t want to do when you can’t question it.”

Castiel paused, tapped the table with the pads of his fingers.

“What about you? What do you need?”

He hated that he had to stop and think about that for a minute. There were a lot of things he needed, but he wasn’t used to being asked. What should he say? What was the right answer? The look on Castiel’s face told him he was taking too long, and probably overthinking this to death. He made himself breathe and keep it simple. That’s when he remembered Charlie, and how great it had been to feel useful again.

“I need to do something more than just clean and cook. Something that matters outside these walls.”

Castiel nodded encouragingly, as if he was waiting for Dean to continue, so he did, working it out as he spoke.

“Maybe I could help at the center, somehow. I could fix everyone’s cars, maybe. Or I could teach some basics of living on the run. I lived on the run for years. Stuff like how to change your own oil, or simple repairs you can do that on the side of the road so people aren’t getting stranded and potentially getting caught. How to hustle pool for money in a pinch. There’s a lot I could teach that could be useful.”

“That’s a pretty good idea, actually. Though most of our _customers_ don’t drive.”

“I could teach them. Getting away is a lot easier with wheels.”

“I like where this is going. You should spend the next few days talking to people and assessing what we already do, and what you can add to that. Then you can put together a class proposal and bring it up to Benny. I’ll help, if you like.”

Dean vaguely nodded, afraid to believe that Cas really liked the idea, and that they could work together to make it happen. 

“Ready to see the rest of the place?”

They had gone in through the back door, which led into the kitchen, and had gone no further, wanting to eat while the food was still warm. Dean nodded, took care of his plate, and washed his hands, before turning to Cas, ready to follow. He had no idea what to expect. From the outside, it looked like a boring, if well kept, suburban house. By the back door was the basement access, but Castiel walked on towards the kitchen door into a large living room, then a home office with its own bathroom and a walk-in storage closet. Upstairs there were three bedrooms, a very large bathroom, and a master suite.

“This is an awfully big house for just you, isn’t it?”

Cas shrugged.

“it’s basically a safe house for the center posing as my home. Thus far we haven’t needed to use the extra rooms, but it’s nice to have the space if it’s needed.”

They went back down to the basement steps. At the bottom was a utility space and what appeared to be a classic man cave, complete with a pool table. The bathroom was more modest down there, but still had a shower. 

“I suppose now’s as good a time as ever to show you the panic room.”

Castiel reached for the TV remote, pushed two buttons at the same time, and the bookshelf in the back of the room moved, revealing a hidden shelter. They ended up sitting in the man cave, watching a movie, and then it was time for bed.

They walked up the stairs together, commenting on some feature of the house as they went. Cas opened the door directly across from the master bedroom and gestured in the general direction of the bed.

“You can have this room. Or any of the others, I guess, if you prefer. This one is closer to me, so -”

Awkwardly, he stopped, shoved his hands into his pockets and positioned himself in front of the master bedroom door.

“Anyway. Good night, Dean.”

Cas took a step backward, grabbed the door handle, and waited.

“Good night, Cas.”


	7. Turning up the heat

4 days. For the last 4 days Dean had gone in with Castiel to work. He talked to everyone, focused on trying to find a niche for himself. He had asked the Advanced Cooking teacher what an omega who wanted to encourage a reluctant alpha might add into the food in the way of an aphrodisiac (he was just curious, okay?), and the teacher added a new unit to her schedule. He’d spent time with Charlie, helping and discussing his driving class idea. She’d agreed to “secure” proper documentation, licenses and ownership papers for the vehicles, should the class come to fruition. He’d thought of Sammy when he talked to the makeup teacher and she ended up coming up with a unit on changing the appearance of pups. At the end of each day he found himself in Castiel’s room.

“I used to be pretty good, you know. At advanced aerobics. Out of practice now.”

“I don’t suppose it’s practical to join the class, under the circumstances. But we can take some time at the end of the day, if you like.”

So here he was again. Ready to spend some time at the end of the day getting tangled up with Cas. Day 1 had been awkward. They’d practiced mostly footwork and some basic movement and warmup things. Hardly any contact at all. Dean had been invigorated by the workout and was still full of energy when they had dinner. He had trouble sitting still for a movie, so they decided to play a board game instead. They sat across from each other, stealing glances and smiling like teenagers, teasing each other when they won a round. 

When they finally went up to their respective rooms, Dean had tried to settle down and go to sleep, but he was too ramped up. He paced until he was sure he was going to wake up Cas, and ended up going downstairs, sitting where Cas had sat earlier, and driving his nose into the chair cushion, hoping that what was left of his scent would help him relax into sleep.

His mind filled with images of Cas circling him, lunging in what was meant to be a threatening way. Every cell in his body wanted Cas to lunge. To flip him down to the mat and pin him down and… he made himself stop that train of thought. He needed a shower. A long, cold shower. He went, but he took the pillow Cas had been sitting with along to his bedroom.

On day 2 he was not going to settle for just footwork. When Cas lunged, Dean was there, dodging, spinning, and getting his hands on Cas. Practicing counters, of course. That’s all. Just practicing some basic moves to effectively stop an attacker getting his hands on him. By pinning the attacker’s arm behind his back, maybe. And if he was clumsy enough to sometimes end up pressed right up into Cas in the process, well… that’s why he needed practice.

That night even the cold shower didn’t help. What on earth had possessed him to insist for so long that he wanted a room of his own? He was a stupid, stupid omega. 

When there was a knock on the door and Cas came through, Dean couldn’t believe his eyes.

“I could hear you were restless. Feeling sore? That was quite a workout.”

Dean nodded. He would have nodded no matter what excuse Cas provided right now. 

“I could give you a massage, if you think it might help.”

A chorus of _yes, yes, yes_ broke out in Dean’s brain, but he didn’t dare listen to it. If Cas touched him right now, it would very quickly become apparent he was lying through his teeth. Or he’d do something stupid like whine and beg him to get into bed. He had manipulated and pushed things before. This time he was going to be patient and wait for Cas.

“I’m ok,” he managed. “Just need some sleep.”

Cas extended the t-shirt he’d been wearing all day. 

“You said my scent helped you relax so I thought…” 

Dean nodded enthusiastically, grabbed the t-shirt and immediately buried his nose in it.

“Good night, Dean.”

Dean’s eyes drifted closed and the images returned. Cas circling. Cas lunging. Dean countering. But now Cas was breaking free. Turning around and pinning Dean to a wall. Intense blue, blue eyes getting closer. Sometimes pinning Dean to a wall facing Cas, wrists up next to his head. Sometimes pinning Dean against a wall facing the wall, Castiel’s body pressed into his back.

Dean whined into the t-shirt and before he even knew what was happening he was sliding his hand down his chest, pretending it was Cas. Touching himself just the way he wanted to be touched. Needed to be touched. In record time, he was bucking into his hand, moaning into the t-shirt, and letting the pent up frustration explode out of him.   
He was exhausted, and he wanted nothing more than to curl up with Castiel’s warm body and drift off to sleep in his arms. But he had to clean up, and get back into a very large, very cold, very empty bed. He was a stupid, stupid omega.

On day 3, Cas wanted to work on those counters, with some intimidation moves thrown in. The kind of moves that involved growling and getting right up into someone’s face. The idea was to overcome the intimidation effect, and counter anyway. Dean would have to say there were mixed results. He was not intimidated. He was, however, slicking like an omega in heat. He kept getting lost in the heat of Castiel’s body, and forgetting he was supposed to be trying to dodge and counter. 

Cas was starting to get frustrated, and the growls were getting more real, and that was soo working for Dean. The third time Castiel had him pinned against the wall, Dean couldn’t hold back a moan.

“You’re not focusing, Dean,” he growled. “But you don’t smell intimidated.”

“I’m not,” he managed to say.

He felt the air movement as Castiel inhaled deeply. 

“I don’t know that smell. What is it?”

In the moment of uncertainty, Dean moved. Before Cas knew what was happening, they were on the floor, each trying to pin the other down on the mat. Dean gained the upper hand, straddled Cas and held onto his shoulders. 

“It’s slick, Cas. That smell is slick.”

He saw Castiel’s nostrils flare, his eyes close, as if he wanted to remember every detail of that smell. Then his eyes opened again, and there was a different sort of light in them. He bucked, and Dean didn’t even try to resist. He went down, and in the next heartbeat Castiel’s groin was pressing his into the mat, Dean’s legs still wide around Castiel’s hips. Castiel’s elbows held Dean’s arms down, and his hands were on Dean’s wrists. And Dean was whimpering helplessly, his head tossed back to expose his neck. 

“Dean - ”

But his voice was deeper than Dean had ever heard it, chocked up even, with what Dean hoped was the same sort of craving running through his own blood. He whimpered again, needy and impatient, and Castiel’s eyes flared. Slowly, he buried his nose in Dean’s neck, scenting deeply. He felt Dean’s shudder down to his toes and angled his head to press his lips where his nose had been. Slowly walked them up Dean’s neck, along his jawline and his lips lingered there until Dean shuddered again, moved his head and dove into a kiss.

It was all a delicious blur until Cas rolled off and they both came to their senses. They acted like the tension between them wasn’t there all the way home in the car, all through dinner, and through a half-hearted attempt to watch a comedy on TV. They went to their separate rooms early. After what he’d done the first time around, he had to let Castiel make the first move, didn’t he?

Stupid, stupid omega.

He got into the shower and didn’t even try to fight it this time. He was slicking again the moment he closed his eyes and allowed the images to come. There was no need or time for niceties. His hand went right for his cock and he stroked himself to the fastest orgasm he’d ever had. _That would have been embarrassing if he had company._ He leaned against the wall and let the warm water soothe him.

He almost went right to bed, but the t-shirt Cas gave him yesterday no longer held much of his scent. Dean stopped cold when he saw that Cas was standing outside his door, looking very much as if he’d just been caught doing something he shouldn’t be doing. 

“Cas?”

Without a word, Cas extended today’s t-shirt and went back to his room. Dean brought it up to his nose as he closed the door, and that’s when the strong streak of arousal in his scent finally registered.

And then it was day 4, and Dean was about to go in for his end of day workout.


	8. the alpha rule

The name of the game today was “no touchy”. Dean’s self-control couldn’t handle another session like the last two. If one of them ended up pushed against a wall today, Dean would lose his mind and things would happen that should definitely not be happening at the place where he was hoping to find gainful employment. Where Cas had already found it. 

Dean’s plan was to talk to Cas about his class, and the class Dean himself had been planning. Really get into the nuts and bolts of it. Drag it out. Hopefully until they ran out of workout time and went home. Maybe he could even suggest setting up a workout room at home. Then if they got a bit carried away, well… He cleared his throat and told himself now was not the time to go down that road. Then he carefully opened the door, took a deep breath, and walked in.

“Have you considered a few knife fighting moves?”

“Hello to you too,” Cas chuckled.

He should have greeted Cas. That was stupid, of course he should have greeted Cas. Dean ran his hand through his hair and tried again, turning around to face Cas.

“Hey, Cas.”

“Hello, Dean.”

His mind went blank for a moment. What had he been saying? He couldn’t think with Cas standing there all flushed and waiting for him.

“Knife fighting moves?”

 _Right, knife fighting._ That was it. He could get his brain to engage, he knew he could.

“Advanced aerobics is great, it is. Everyone should know some of that. But I think it’s important to note there are a lot of things around most omegas that could be used as weapons, if they know how. Kitchen knives, mop handles, skillets… just off the top of my head. A few solid moves with those could give an omega an important edge, especially if they’re outnumbered.”

He turned away from Cas, dropped his stuff in a corner, and pulled out a paper pad. 

“Here’s what I was thinking.”

Cas came to stand over his shoulder, watching as Dean outlined half a dozen potential weapons and 4 solid basic moves for each one. It was a full 45 minutes later that they noticed how long they’d been talking about it.

“This is a great idea, Dean. Thank you. How are your own plans going? Got some solid ideas there? Anything I can help with?”

Dean looked up, prepared to tell Cas about his idea. But his mind went blank again and he heard himself tripping over his words.

“I was thinking – I think driving is important and I could also teach basic, uh. Basic maintenance and repairs.”

He sounded like an idiot. He was going to have to do better when he pitched this to Benny.

“I have a plan that could get us – uh, some old junkers to fix, demonstrate the skills. And then we could maybe… have a restored car that we could send someone off in, if they needed wheels. Not everybody, obviously, but if there’s one with young pups maybe, or an injury or something.”

“Is something wrong? You seem uncharacteristically nervous.”

“Nothing – nothing wrong. Just anxious. Maybe you could help me work on my pitch.”

“I’d love to.”

Castiel nodded, his smile indicating he liked the idea. 

“Are we going to work out?”

Dean hesitated a second too long.

“It would help the anxiety, you know.”

Dean ran his hand through his hair again, closed his eyes and asked himself if he could hold his shit together for a bit. He really could use a workout.

“Sure, guess we have time for a quick one.”

The second the words were out, Dean turned beet red. Castiel either didn’t notice or did a fair job of pretending not to. 

They squared off, and as soon as they started circling around each other, Dean found himself internally repeating “no touchy” as if it was his new mantra. He made no move against Cas, entirely focused on not letting Cas get his hands on him. Around and around they went, Cas lunging here and there and Dean gracefully dodging, ducking or otherwise generally avoiding Cas entirely.

He realized something unexpected was happening when Castiel’s movements started getting jerky and rash. Was he getting frustrated? Then he ducked under Castiel’s arm and got a hint of arousal. Dean couldn’t help himself. He’d always been a bit of a tease, if never in quite this way. Suddenly, the nature of the tension between them changed. Cas started trying harder, driven by a need to touch Dean. Dean continued to dodge and get out of the way as if his life depended on it, but now enjoying the changes in Castiel’s scent as he evaded every move. And then the inevitable moment of distraction, and Cas had him against the wall.

Dean’s eyes closed tight, and he made himself breathe normally. _Do NOT, Dean Winchester. Not here. Whatever you do, don’t -_ His mind helpfully supplied all kinds of things he definitely shouldn’t do – _definitely not any of that. Do NOT_. 

“I’m sorry.”

Dean opened his eyes, confused.

“We should go,” Cas continued. “We need to talk, I think. Not here.”

They headed to the car, neither of them saying a word until they were safely buckled in and on the way home.

“Dean, I apologize. I should have taken a hint when you hesitated. You clearly didn’t want to work out today and when we started I could tell you were uncomfortable with it. I should have – well, I shouldn’t have pushed, and I shouldn’t have continued when I realized you were not comfortable with it. I thought… it doesn’t matter what I thought. I crossed a line, I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t - ”

But Dean couldn’t figure out what to say. Had Cas crossed a line? It hadn’t really felt like it then. Maybe because Dean himself wanted to vault over that line himself.

“I hope I didn’t scare you. It won’t happen again.”

“No, you didn’t scare me. It wasn’t that kind of uncomfortable. I was… in my own head, I guess.”

“I think we need a new rule. To make sure no lines get crossed again.”

“What kind of rule?”

“I think something like the omega rule. You know, about how when we’re in public I need you to behave as an obedient omega? Only this would be an alpha rule.”

“An alpha rule? Alphas don’t have rules.”

Cas smirked a little, maybe in self derision.

“Well, this one does. So, I was thinking a few days ago that I wanted a way to offer help without pressuring you to take it, or a way for you to let me know discreetly that you need help, or that I’m pushing you in a direction you don’t want to go. A way for you to tell me you need me to behave like an alpha. And also a way for you to tell me when I’ve crossed a line and need to get the alpha under control.”

Cas glanced over at Dean before returning his eyes to the road.

“So, I propose the following rule, which we will call the alpha rule. If you address me as alpha, I will take the lead or otherwise behave as a typical alpha. If you call me Castiel, that means the alpha is getting pushy and is not needed. The rest of the time I can be Cas, as you seem to like that nickname for me more than my full name anyway. How does that sound?”

“Makes sense. And we can modify my rule like that too. Omega for when I have to behave like a typical obedient omega, and Dean for the rest of the time.”

“I like that. Are we agreed then?”

“Yeah, Cas. Agreed.”

And they sat in a comfortable silence the rest of the way home, each of them lost in what this meant for them.


	9. the storm breaks

They were in the kitchen, cooking together as they did most evenings, an easy companionship taking the edge off the earlier tension. It was still there, in the background, but less demanding. It felt like the evening before a heavy thunderstorm, the air filled with anticipation and static, but cool. They laughed together like a soothing breeze that made the wait bearable, and yet they knew they wouldn’t be able to breathe freely until the storm broke. 

Castiel went to the sink to rinse out a bowl and froze, the words he’d been about to say forgotten.

“I’ll be right back,” he said instead, making a beeline for the back door.

Dean frowned, dropped the knife he’d been using to dice onions, and walked up to the sink, placing himself where Cas had been, and looking out the window. Where had he gone in such a hurry? As it turned out, not far.

It was getting late, and it was quiet outside. The kind of quiet that carries voices further than they would normally travel. At first all he sees is Cas approaching someone he assumes to be the night watchman. Only not the usual one. Dean doesn’t know this person. He hesitates, but he opens the window just enough to hear. When he looks up from the window lock again, before straightening up, he notices something else. There is someone crouching by the wall. As far as Dean can tell from here, it looks like an omega.   
Cas walked right past the omega, as if he hadn’t even noticed there was a body there and addressed the watchman.

“Good evening!”

“Good evening, sir,” the man hesitated, clearly uncertain. Cas did not.

“You seemed to be headed to my door. Is there anything I can do for you?”

“No, sir. I mean, not headed to your door. I was following that omega there. Out alone after curfew, acting suspicious.”

Cas turned around sharply and mumbled what sounded like a blue streak. Indistinct to Dean, except in tone, but probably clear to the other two. Then his voice cleared and hardened.

“What are you doing out here? Get inside immediately. We will discuss this as soon as I’m done here. You will go kneel in front of my chair and hope that I don’t chain you in the yard all night, since you’re so eager for fresh air.”

The omega didn’t move, clearly confused.

“Now, omega! Inside!” And Castiel pointed furiously towards the back door.

The omega still had not moved when Cas turned to the watchman again, his voice all calm assurance.

“I apologize, officer. I’m afraid my omega is still in training. I assure you it will not happen again. I thank you for your assistance. I’ll take it from here,” Cas turned to leave, but the other man cleared his throat.

“Sir,” he started to say. But Cas didn’t even fully turn around, his posture and his tone dismissing the man entirely and daring him to continue to waste his time.

“I said, officer, that _I_ will take care of _my omega_. She’s wasted enough of your time tonight. You may return to your other duties.” In another heartbeat Cas was inside and locking the front door.

His omega? His _omega? His omega?_ Suddenly Dean was furious, his hands gripping the edge of the sink, and his scent terrifying the omega, who a moment ago reeked of confused relief and was now pressed against the inside of the door, not knowing where to go and afraid to make a move and set Dean off. Dean turned around, too busy working to contain his anger to work out where it was coming from just yet. He made himself move slowly, turn to face the omega. She looked young. Too young, She couldn’t have presented very long ago. 

Cas came through the kitchen door and gestured for the omega.

“Are you hurt? What were you doing out this late?”

He looked her over, his voice kind and soothing in a way Dean had never heard it before. Somehow it made him madder, even as it calmed her down. Her father had sold her to a business associate. She had run away.

“We’ll hide you in a safe place for the night, and we’ll figure out what to do in the morning,” Cas was saying. He was leading her to the panic room, water and fruit in her hands, and her eyes trained on Dean. 

_Keep your shit together, Dean. He just said it to get her inside. It doesn’t mean anything._ But the words “my omega” kept echoing in his brain and he couldn’t stand it, somehow.

In another minute, Cas came back into the room alone.

“Dean?”

“Not right now, Cas,” he bit out.

_Breathe. Relax. Why are you so freaked out about this? Focus._

Dean made himself remember the last few days. The way they’d ended up tangled together, the look in Castiel’s eyes when he had Dean pinned against the wall, and the same eyes when he couldn’t pin Dean down. _His omega. That’s me, dammit. Me._

He jumped when he felt Castiel’s hand on his shoulder and walked away without looking. Desperate to hang on to control, he made for the stairs. If he could make it to his room, he’d be fine. He could get his shit together while Cas finished cooking and then they’d have dinner and everything would be fine. 

He was half way up the stairs when he head Cas following. He picked up the pace. He just needed a minute alone to get himself together, that was all. Just a minute. Just had to get to his room. 

“Dean!”

He didn’t look around, not even when he felt Castiel’s hand touch his arm, trying to stop him. Dean dodged and moved faster. 

“Dean, wait!”

Three more steps and Cas was reaching again. Dean lunged forward. Almost there. Then he heard a grunt, and before he knew what was happening he was pinned against the wall.

“Talk to me, Dean.”

But Castiel’s lips were right there, now, and suddenly all the tension exploded. Talk? He could barely whine. Suddenly the storm was raging, and Dean was powerless to do anything but hold himself together and hope that the whimpers he couldn’t hold back would speak for him. 

“Dean?”

Dean’s body slipped into autopilot. He buried his nose in Castiel’s neck, driven by the need to scent Cas, to make sure that he still smelled like Cas, with no trace of that other omega. Carefully he searched, nuzzled at the neck, brushed his lips against the scent gland, wanting to read it with all his senses. Just Cas, it was just Cas. It should have soothed him, but it somehow felt wrong, and he rubbed against every part of Cas he could reach, needing to mark him. 

Something in his soul howled when the scent started to change. It was still Cas, but sweeter, somehow, at first. And as he learned that scent he picked up something else. Arousal. He needed to get closer. Now. He needed to get closer now. Another whimper and now it was Cas struggling for control.

“Dean, we need to – talk.”

But Dean didn’t want to talk. Not now, anyway. Later. They could talk later. He nibbled gently at Castiel’s neck.

“Dean,” he tried again, and it came out like a growl that encouraged Dean to nibble again. But Castiel seemed to be locked in indecision. 

An echo broke through the fog, and Dean knew what to do. He swallowed, closed his eyes, and let his head drop back, exposing his own neck. 

“Alpha…” he whimpered.

“Are you -”

“Alpha…” now with as much eagerness as impatience, his eyes opening to lock into Castiel's.

That’s when he saw it snap. Something in Castiel’s eyes just changed. His mouth pressed into the exposed neck and he held Dean against the wall with his body, releasing his hands to tug at Dean’s pants, yank them roughly down as far as he could get them, then up again to hold Dean’s head steady. All finesse forgotten for the moment, he nibbled hungrily at Dean’s lips, his feet nudging Dean’s legs apart, his knee sliding up Dean’s inner thigh as his foot looked for the pants and pushed them the rest of the way down. His right hand reached for Dean’s thigh, pulling his foot free of the pants and encouraging Dean to lock his leg around him.

The intoxicating scent he now knew to be slick, Dean’s slick, hit him like a ton of bricks the moment the leg went up and it was Castiel’s turn to whimper. His hand was drawn all the way up until he could touch it, and he broke the kiss for a moment, breathless with the wonder of what his fingers were touching. 

Slowly, he traced the flesh under his fingertips, found his way in, and felt the shudder that went through Dean when he did. He made himself explore for a moment, his fingers pulling Dean closer. Later he would try to figure out how he lost the last shred of reason. Was it Dean’s whimper? The hardness of Dean’s erection pressed into Castiel’s? The wetness around his fingers? He didn’t know, and he couldn’t bring himself to care. He lost it, released Dean’s ass just long enough to undo his own pants, and then he was angling Dean’s hips and burying himself deep. All the way in. Dean’s legs locked around his hips, and without further ado, Castiel fucked him into next Tuesday, right there, against the wall.


	10. Progress

Dean opened his eyes lazily, his body more relaxed than it had ever been. He should have felt trapped. The wall was still at his back, and everywhere else was Castiel. Cas was slumped against his front, his weight holding Dean in place. Cas’s thighs were under him, cradling his body where it rested just off the floor. Cas’s arms were around his waist, keeping his body close, steady, safe. Cas’s knot was inside him. He arched his back ever so slightly, just to feel it tug, and felt a languid smile break over his face. 

“Dean -”

He felt Castiel’s weight shift off him, his body tense up, and the cold air that suddenly intruded made him aware of the sticky mess on their bellies. He whined a protest but let him move. It seemed Cas was thinking again, so Dean really needed to get his head in gear. 

“Dean, I…”

“Don’t. I got exactly what I wanted, Cas. And asked for, I might add.”

Castiel’s body relaxed with a sigh and slumped into him again. Slowly, Dean slid his hands up Castiel’s back, around his neck, and drew his nose right into his own neck.

“Smell that? That’s blissed out, happy omega.” 

He felt Castiel nose at his neck, inhaling deeply, learning the smell. Then Cas was shifting again. His hands held Dean more purposefully, and his legs started to lift. Dean locked his own legs around Castiel’s waist, held on to his shoulders, and took his time scenting. _And that, ladies and gents, is blissed out, but a bit uneasy alpha._ What was he worried about now? He nosed reassuringly at Castiel’s scent gland and dropped a few gentle licks around it.

When he looked up again, they were in the bathroom. Cas was slipping out and setting him down on the cold granite counter. He turned on the shower and made quick work of removing the clothes they were still wearing. When he looked up at Dean again, his head was adorably tilted, and Dean couldn’t help tilting his own in response. 

“We need a shower.”

Steam was starting to fill the room when they went into the shower together. Cas took his sweet time on Dean’s skin, as if he was trying to remove a particularly difficult stain from an especially delicate fabric. Every move was gentle, measured, careful. Dean had never felt so cared for. 

When they got out, Cas wrapped Dean in a fluffy towel. Dean’s warms were wrapped in the towel with him, and Castiel’s hands holding the towel closed between them created more space than had been between them in some time. Dean’s put out frown was so adorable Cas had to pause to drop a few sweet kisses on Dean’s lips. The kind that lasted forever and glowed with the tenacity of hot coals but held more warmth than heat. _Was that a purr? Was Dean Winchester purring?_

They were mostly dry by the time they broke the kiss, and Cas let the towel drop from Dean’s shoulders, sliding it gently down his back until it reached his waistline. Then Castiel’s gentle smile turned hungry, his hands fisted in the towel and he pulled, bringing Dean’s body snuggly into his. Dean went, his lips poking at the hot coals in Castiel’s kiss. 

Cas broke the kiss, dealt with the towel, and led the way back into Dean’s bedroom, and into Dean’s bed. He seemed determined to keep it soft and sweet, all gentle hands under the covers and petal soft kisses. Dean wanted to chuckle, make some wisecrack about hesitant teenagers making out for the first time, but none of it feel uncertain or juvenile. It felt tender. Vulnerable. Life-changing. Almost terrifying, in its own way. Each touch seemed calculated to reassure and soothe even as it stoked the fear. He knew in his bones there was no turning back from this.

What was he afraid of? He clung to Castiel’s hair and his kiss as his emotions tried to sort themselves out. He wanted this. He needed this. He _needed_ Cas. He’d never really needed anyone before. He’d never felt like he could. Needing things he could handle. Needing people? He had always been a loner, and content to be alone. In his own life, in his own bedroom, in his own bed. Not like he’d had a choice before. He had a choice now, though, and he was afraid.

Dean pulled back just enough to look at Cas, and felt his breath catch in his throat. It was as if Castiel’s soul was laid out for him to examine. He fell into those eyes, sinking into the love he found there, letting it drown out the fear. For a moment the fear surged to warn him he could get lost in there. He shoved it aside. He could think of worse things than losing himself in Cas. Like never knowing what it was like to lose himself at all.

“Cas…” he whispered. “I need you.”

“I’m here.”

And they got lost in each other.

oOo

Dean woke up to find that he was alone in bed. He’d fallen asleep snuggled up with Cas, and he had meant to wake up that way. He sat up in bed, annoyed. 

Knowing he wasn’t likely to go back to sleep like this, he went to the bathroom and started going through his morning routine. This was stupid. It was early, he was still tired. He had thought after last night they were past this separate room nonsense. 

Dean gripped his toothbrush like it was a blade, turned around and marched across to Castiel’s bedroom like an avenging angel ready for battle. The sad and lonely scent that greeted him stopped him cold as soon as the door opened and he kicked himself yet again for all the times he’d insisted that he couldn’t feel happy and safe without his own room. Gods, he was an idiot.

His eyes found Castiel, lying awkwardly on the bed, as if he couldn’t get comfortable, his eyes not quite closed.

“You’re on my side,” Dean mumbled as he went into the bathroom and placed his toothbrush next to Castiel’s. Sure, technically, he didn’t have a side, and Cas was in the middle anyway. But it didn’t really matter. Cas could stay where he was and Dean would go back to his room, or he could move over, and Dean was moving in. It was that simple.

Dean stepped out of the bathroom to find Cas had rolled over to the side nearest the door. He got into bed and made himself comfortable in the warm spot near the middle. He was still shuffling into position on his side when Cas rolled again, spooning him. Dean relaxed into his arms and dozed off almost instantly, while Castiel’s arm tightened around Dean’s waist and a satisfied smile softly brushed the back of his neck.


	11. The morning after

A scent that was both new and familiar drew Cas from his dream and into awareness. He kept his eyes closed, trying to place it. It was mostly Dean, that was the familiar part. He snuggled closer, his nose following the scent to nuzzle at Dean’s neck. Scenting Dean was like walking into your very own private library. Old books, bound in old leather, with maybe a hint of a wood fire in a fireplace. He could snuggle up with Dean and find all the wonders of the world right there. The wisdom of the ages was somewhere behind the green of his eyes. His freckles held the answers to mysteries that had baffled mankind for ages. Every moment with Dean was full of discovery and potential. It was cozy, and safe, and waiting to be explored. But now there was something new.

It was as if somewhere among the stacks someone had opened a window. As if a warm breeze was drifting in, bringing with it gentle notes of wildflowers and summer shenanigans. As if it was whispering of discovery and wonder in wild romps in the woods. As if something, somewhere was inviting him out to play, to chase butterflies and roll around in the grass, and race to the edge of the lake to howl at the moon. 

He felt the impulse to pull Dean’s body closer and held himself in check. It was still early, and besides, he couldn’t think of a single thing to do that felt more important right now than getting to know this scent more intimately and enjoying the world of possibilities opening up before him. When he opened his eyes again, Dean had turned, and their legs were tangled up. Cas purred his way to full awareness, his arm closing around Dean’s back, hand sliding up to the back of his neck to draw him close and position his head just right for scenting. 

“Good morning to you too,” the sexiest sleepy voice he’d ever heard said into his ear.

His first coherent thought was that if this turned out to be a dream, Cas didn’t think he could survive the disappointment. Then he felt Dean’s teeth nipping at his chin and let himself believe that this could be his life now. He rolled them both on the bed, playfully kissed Dean on his chin and settled comfortably over him, letting the bliss inside infuse his scent.

“Good morning, indeed. Best morning ever.”

oOo

“We still need to talk.”

He watched Dean stiffen and hesitate. Cas hated ruining the mood, but more than that he hated not knowing what had upset Dean the night before.

“I couldn’t be happier with the way things turned out,” Cas continued, “but I still don’t know what upset you in the first place. Whatever I did or didn’t do, Dean – I don’t want it to happen again.”

“It was just… stupid, really,” Dean took a deep breath, resolving to just get it over with. He grabbed both their cups and went to the sink.

“I was here, and I could hear you talking. I… I heard you tell the guard that girl was your omega and it just – I don’t know. I was mostly pissed at myself that it bothered me to hear it. I know you weren’t actually claiming her, but -”

He left the cups in the sink and turned to face Cas again. 

“It doesn’t even make sense to me, honestly. Just my own shit, I guess.”

Cas nodded.

“New rule time?”

Dean’s eyebrow shot up. If they were going to make new rules every time someone was upset it was going to be an awfully long list.

“I know, but this is important. So, new alpha rule. I will not claim or imply a relationship to another omega without your prior consent. And new omega rule. If something bothers you so much that you feel like you need to run away, even if it’s just into another room, it’s not stupid. And you have to tell me, so I can fix it. Fair?”

Dean nodded. He hadn’t meant to run away, just to get his shit under control. But after what he’d done the first time they’d lived together, well… he couldn’t really blame Cas for thinking of it that way. If making it a rule that they had to talk about it would help, then he supposed it was fair. He’d made the mess. He should help clean it up.

“I forgot she was here, actually,” Cas sidestepped, “I’ll go get her from the safe room. We should get her something to eat and get her to the center and on her way to safety.”

oOo

The looks started following them the moment they arrived, but with his pitch to Benny coming up, he was too anxious to notice them at first. He’d pulled Cas into Charlie’s room and ran through his pitch for both of them. Their enthusiasm had been reassuring. Then he’d followed Cas back to his own room and got an entirely different kind of reassurance from a thorough scenting.

He’d made his pitch, and Benny had loved the idea. He was going to find a salvage yard they could trust to work with. A section of the underground garage was going to be “closed for maintenance” for the driving lessons, and they were going to build a sort of extra-large bay down there for the car maintenance and repair classes disguised as a maintenance storage area. Charlie would help with vehicle and driver documentation. It was really going to happen. The ball was rolling and Dean couldn’t wait to be elbow deep into the engine grease.

His smile faltered, though, as he noticed the eyes more fully now that he didn’t have this pitch on his mind. They were mostly benign glances, to be fair. They were all probably picking up the change in his scent. Or maybe, after all that scenting earlier, it would be more accurate to say they were picking up Castiel’s scent on him. They were curious, was all. Still, he couldn’t help it. It was making him restless.

Charlie had cajoled a bit of an admission out of him and was delighted with him at the way the relationship was developing. But Charlie didn’t know the whole story and he didn’t want to tell her just how badly he’d fucked it up before. How afraid he was of fucking it up again. With everyone watching. He should be celebrating his new place here, but all he really wanted to do was go hide from all those eyes.

Shit. He was going to have to talk to Cas about this, wasn’t he? That was the rule, wasn’t it? Omega rule #2, agreed to just this morning. He groaned, and went to his room, to draw up plans and gather materials for his first class next week.


	12. Mating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter. I feel like their story isn't over yet, but there's a new Destiel story demanding to be told first that has nothing to do with this ABO universe. This series has at least one more story in it - called "Puppy Love", and I'll write it after the story demanding my attention now. Feel free to leave ideas or suggestions in the comments. And I hope you'll come back and read the next story very soon.

“How did it go?”

He thought he’d have until dinner, if he “lost track of time” working to get ready for his first class. 

“Great!” 

But he knew he didn’t sound as if it had gone great. Still, when Cas simply waited for him to elaborate, he began to go into detail and the more he thought and said about it, the closer he got to that great feeling. By the time he got to the part where his first class was next week, he was radiating excitement and anticipation. Cas listened, his smile getting bigger as he went.

“This calls for a celebration! Want to go out to eat, or - ” Castiel’s voice dropped suggestively “we could pick something up and… eat in.” 

Castiel’s brow seemed to indicate he had a clear preference, but as it was his accomplishment they were celebrating, he would leave the choice to Dean.

Dean closed in, attempting nonchalance, but that only lasted until his nose was buried in Castiel’s neck, his smile spreading against the warm skin he found there. Since he’d undoubtedly given himself away already, he dropped the gentlest of kisses before drawing in the proud alpha scent and then nodding.

“Eating in sounds awesome.”

oOo

“Now tell me what was bothering you when I first came in.”

Dean flinched slightly. He had hoped this conversation would wait till later, but well… at least it would be over with and he could stop worrying about it.

“It’s… complicated,” he sighed. “Have you noticed people looking at you weird since we got here?”

Cas didn’t seem bothered by it, but he nodded nevertheless.

“We do seem to be generating a lot of interest today.”

“Well, all those eyes following me around felt uncomfortable. I mean, I know they’re just curious and not trying to be rude, but they made me…. itchy, just about. And I started trying to work out why. I…”

Dean hesitated, but Cas gave him the time to choose his words as carefully as he liked.

“I think what bothered me when I heard you say the girl was your omega and the itchy feeling are related. It’s not so much that it bothered me to hear you call her your omega when I know it’s just a line to get her away from the guard, but that it bothers me that - ”

He paused longer this time, made himself say the words.

“That nobody knows that _I_ am. Or used to be. I can’t really say anymore that I am, since I stupidly ran off like I did.”

He looked at his hands, watched them close into fists, not ready to let him off the hook yet.

“It feels like there are a lot of things I can’t say that I want to. I said a lot of shit I didn’t mean before, pulled strings, pushed you into things you didn’t really want. And I know that things have changed, but I worry that if I say what I want it will feel like pressure and that if I get what I want that way, we won’t be able to trust it.”

He saw Castiel’s fingers spreading over his own first, thumbs brushing the back of his hands, drawing them closer. 

“Dean, the problem was never what I wanted.” 

One hand slid up his arm, brushed the back of his neck and gently lifted Dean’s face.

“I wanted all of it. I wasn’t ready, and I told you so. I needed time to learn. I still do, though I have learned a lot recently. But I wanted it, more than I can say. I wanted to be your mate. The problem back then was that _you_ didn’t really want it. That it was a means to an end for you. And you’re right, things have changed. If you did something like that again, now - ”

Dean could see the calm reassurance Cas had meant to offer slip for a moment, and he made himself wait, letting his scent speak for him.

“I don’t know if I could understand or forgive, now. I have learned enough to be a good mate, I think, to someone who would help me learn the rest. See me as a team mate, not an opponent in some hidden battle. And I am a little afraid too, now. That I’ll ask for too much, or say the wrong thing, and make you run away again. But what I want hasn’t changed. If what you want has, I need to know.”

Castiel had never looked so serious, so focused, as he did now.

“What do you want, Dean? What do you _really_ want?”

“I want to move into your bedroom.”

There, that was reasonable, right? And safe, since he’d more or less done that last night. He saw that Cas was still listening, so he continued.

“I want to smell like you all the time, and I want to smell myself on you when I scent you.”

He was getting warmed up now, and Cas was still waiting, his expression still focused, but more relaxed now, as if he liked what he was hearing.

“I want you all up in my space when we watch TV, and I want to curl up in your lap when I have a freak out, and I want to make out with you in the back of the SUV or anywhere where we can have privacy, and I want everyone to know that – that _I_ am your omega.”

He felt a shudder at those words. His or Castiel’s, he didn’t know. He was pulled closer, then quickly released as the door opened.

“Sorry,” he heard Charlie’s voice say. “I’ll just… come back later.”

“It’s alright, Charlie,” Cas responded. “I was just leaving.”

Then he smiled his most besotted smile at Dean, brushed his thumb across Dean’s cheek, and dropped a brief peck on his forehead.

“I’ll see you later.”

oOo 

They picked up ribs on the way home, and dug in quickly, not bothering to warm them up, then cleaned up quickly and collapsed on the sofa to wait out the food coma with Dr. Sexy. Dean reached over Cas for a blanket, Cas reached around Dean for the remote. Neither quite explained what happened but somehow, they ended up all tangled up in each other. 

“We should convert your old bedroom into a workout room,” was suggested half-way through the third episode, and as the food coma had receded enough, they disentangled themselves from each other and the blanket and climbed up the stairs. They set the bed aside and shuffled the rest of the furniture into the walk-in closets. 

“Maybe the bed could go in one of the other rooms? Or the panic room?”

“We could disassemble it. It would probably fit in the closet in the hallway closet. Just need to take off a few pins.”

They made short work of the bed, then looked around at the empty space.

“Needs a mat,” Cas offered.

“Maybe we could make do with a comforter until we have a mat?”

They had to try it, of course. And so the comforter was produced, and arranged on the floor, and a few rounds later, laughing and breathing hard from exertion, they found the mood changing. In the blink of an eye, they were rolling around again, hands and lips all over each other, struggling for a different kind of control. Working to remove layers without sacrificing any more contact than they had to. 

Somehow, they pulled it all off. And with skin to skin contact the urgency seemed to fade. Hands gentled and took their time exploring. Lips brushed everywhere they could reach, seeking out sensitive spots, stopping to nuzzle, to scent, to worship.

“Dean -”

He felt it pressing down on him, some need to say something, to do something, but he wasn’t sure what, wasn’t sure how, there was just instinct. Deep-in-the-gut instinct, the kind of drive that was usually only a part of his rut. 

“Dean.” 

Dean’s body moved against him as if he knew, somehow, despite Castiel’s inability to understand or express it. Dean’s hands slid up, curved around his neck, drove into his hair, pulled his head closer, right into the spot on his skin that was most tantalizingly intoxicating. Cas was happy to take the suggestion and run with it. Somewhere around the time Dean’s hand curled into his scalp, his brain shut off. 

His body had far fewer questions. His hands moved over Dean’s body without hesitation, guided by the noises coming from Dean, the smells he suddenly was so close to, the reactions of the skin under his fingertips. _Closer._

And then Dean was twisting just right, urging him on, and he was sliding home.

“Cas- “

Somehow, as embarrassingly confused as he’d been about his own needs before, he knew exactly what Dean needed. He brushed his teeth softly against the spot Dean’s hands had guided him to, teasing, asking for permission the only way he could. Dean’s hands pulled him closer, Dean’s head tilted, exposing his neck more thoroughly, arching it up to meet his teeth. 

Castiel bit down, the taste of Dean’s blood on his tongue driving him wild. He lifted his head and shifted his weight and he was suddenly moving inside Dean, his body wanting to claim and mark him in every possible way. He felt Dean’s hands shift on his head, guide him away from the bite, and he heard himself whimper. And then Dean’s teeth were brushing across his throat, seeking. Cas bared his own throat, as Dean had done a moment before, and then Dean’s teeth were sinking in, just as his knot was sinking into Dean, and the sensations were so thrilling together that he felt himself shudder and tense. A few more strokes, and he lost all sense of reality. 

When he came back to awareness, he found himself sticky, his stomach covered in Dean’s cum, and he chuckled warmly. As it turned out, it seemed they had both been thoroughly claimed and marked. He touched his neck, where Dean’s teeth had cut him, a strange sense of wonder filling him up. Dean’s eyes were still closed, and he gently leaned closer, nudging Dean’s head into a better angle so Cas could tenderly lick the injury clean. When they could move again, they left the mess and went to bed.


End file.
